Before we left for SXSW we had been on tour all over Norway. We were getting a bit tired of the cold and were really looking forward to the warm weather in Austin, TX. After 14 hours of travel, it was heavenly to arrive in Austin, peel off our clothes and stretch our toes.
Our first show was at Maria’s Texmex Express. What a strange and fun time that was playing the tiny outdoor stage with…some AV gear…and a piano that was about to collapse. But no worries! We had the sun, mexican beer and wonderful people around to help. We think Maria and her crew liked us cause after our first performance the beer was on the house and the tip-jar was full! That’s where it started and we didn’t stop until a week later.
In addition to the official shows, we played for hours on the street. We don’t know if anyone could hear us amongst all the other concerts going on on 6th street, but we kept our happy vibe about us and it seemed to lure some music fans to our improv street-show. We had 4 great shows at Maria’s TM, Threadgill’s, The Rio and Lean’s Backyard. The latter was a private backyard belonging to a really cool hippie-gal, who lived in a really cool, old hippie-house…with lots of cool hippie-friends. Everyone was so welcoming and nice. A perfect ending to our stay in Austin…at least…that was supposed to be the ending.
The next day (the day we were travelling back to Norway), National Geographic wanted us to play in their studio followed by an interview. They did not need to ask us twice.
All the backyard-partiers from the day before were invited, and lots of them came. It turned into a very unique experience where we gave every ounce of energy we had in us. The energy in the room was moving and the contact between us and the crowd was indescribable. I think we all almost got religious at some point. It sounds crazy…and it was!
We finally headed home with many new experiences, friends and lots of small, cute gifts in our luggage. This was most definitely NOT the last time we will be in Austin. See you soon!!
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